Poet whistles to cat in the evening
warns of approaching dog;
cat rears, dog bristles, poet
calms, trilling and warbling
as birds talk to one another.
The combatants: dog backs down
as sensible dog has always done;
cat sits like statue posing for
Egyptian hieroglyph, inscrutable
face put on the meeting. Dog sniffs
telephone pole, cat sits still; poet
experiments with quarter tones,
achromatic scales, Bergian conceits,
trying to sound just like birds.
Dog returns from her crap
upon the Korean convenience store
owner’s immaculate lawn, tended
by his elderly parents, again
the bristles between two predators—
all so predictable, almost laughable.
The moment poet shouts HI HI HI!
cat bolts—dog sniffs itself—
all is calm as summer sun paints
the horizon gold, salmon, amethyst,
carbine, and stars scatter like scent.

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